I have a rule about road food, and it's served me well for years: the best food usually isn't at the exit ramp. It's in the small towns you'd blow past if you weren't paying attention. So when I saw Family Destinations Guide's rundown of seven little-known Ohio hot dog joints, I did what I always do, which is start mentally plotting a route.

The list kicks off with Jib Jab Hot Dog Shoppe in Girard, up in the northeast corner of the state near Youngstown. This is exactly the kind of place I mean. A hot dog shoppe with a name like Jib Jab isn't trying to be anything other than what it is, which is a counter, a griddle, and somebody who has been dressing dogs the same way for decades. I love that. No gimmick, just tenure.

The full list stretches across the state, so you could realistically string these into a proper Ohio dog crawl. Hit Girard, work your way down through the middle of the state, and finish wherever the last joint lands you. Call it a long weekend. Ohio is flatter than my home state of Colorado and way flatter than the terrain I usually write about, but a food-driven road trip doesn't need elevation gain, just appetite.

What I like about a list like this is that hot dogs keep road food honest. You don't need reservations or a dictionary to read the menu. Five bucks gets you fed. And the places that survive decades serving five-dollar food do it because the food is actually good, not because of a slick website. These joints have never needed marketing. They needed a loyal local crowd and a griddle that never quite cools down.

If you go, treat it like any good road trip. Skip the chain gas stations on the highway and take the state routes instead, because the whole point of eating at a place like Jib Jab is that you went slightly out of your way to get there. Order whatever the regulars are ordering. If the guy ahead of you gets two of something specific, get one of that too. He's done the research.

And do me a favor, if you make the crawl. Tell me which one wins. I have a feeling it's Girard, but I've been wrong before. Once I planned an entire day around a diner in Kansas that turned out to be closed on Tuesdays, which I learned while standing in the parking lot at 11 a.m. Check the hours before you drive. Learn from my Tuesdays.